By Jacob Mathias

A Plover man faces a laundry list of felony charges after allegedly tasering, choking and refusing to let his ex-girlfriend leave her home.

Joshua Fair, 22, is charged with felonious strangulation and suffocation, false imprisonment and possession of an electric weapon — each which carries a maximum sentence of up to a $10,000 fine, six years imprisonment or both if convicted.

Since the defendant is a repeat offender having been convicted of multiple misdemeanors, any prison sentences can be increased by up to two years each.

He is also charged with felony intimidation of a victim which can levy a sentence of up to $25,000 in fines, 10 years imprisonment or both if convicted.

According to the criminal complaint, Plover police were called to a residence on the 3300 block of Patty Dr., where a caller reported a woman was being held against her will at about 4:30 AM on June 22.  When officers arrived at the home they encountered a woman who was crying and appeared to distraught. She identified herself as Fair’s ex-girlfriend.

Initially the woman pleaded for the officers to leave, but then said Fair was “going to take my son and run.” The woman then pointed to the window of the apartment building from which Fair was watching the exchange with officers. He proceed to flee from the apartment.

An officer pursued the defendant around the building and ordered Fair to the ground. Suspecting Fair was armed with a taser, the officer drew his firearm and ordered him to the ground a second time, which Fair complied with. The taser was found in Fair’s pocket.

Fair was then taken into custody and booked into the Portage Co. Jail, where he declined to speak with police about what happened in the apartment.

The woman told police she and Fair shared a two-month-old son, but had broken up a few days earlier, though they continued living together. She told police an argument had begun late the night before over Fair’s use of an online dating service. She reported going to be around midnight, waking at 3:30 AM to care for her son and discovered Fair had left with her car and cell phone.

Fair later returned to the residence, according to the complaint, and continued arguing in the kitchen. When the woman called Fair a “piece of [expletive]”, he responded by putting his arms around her neck and began to choke her until she was unable to speak or breathe. She was eventually able to push him off.

The woman said she then attempted to take her son and leave the apartment because she feared for her son’s safety, but Fair refused to let her leave. Eventually, he said the woman could leave, but not with the child.

When the woman refused to leave the child behind, Fair reportedly slashed the tires on her vehicle with a knife from the home. When he re-entered the apartment, he barred the woman from the child’s bedroom, grabbing her leg and attempting to put her in a headlock.

When she attempted a second time to enter the child’s bedroom, Fair tasered her three times, according to the complaint.

Fair then went outside to smoke a cigarette, accusing the woman of calling police while he was outside when he returned. He then threatened to kill the woman because of “how many times you were going to call the cops”. The woman then exited the building to smoke a cigarette, which is when the police arrived.

Fair is currently being held on a $20,000 cash bond. He is scheduled to make his initial appearance in Portage Co. Circuit Court on July 5 at 1:30 PM.